Tourist Office

Description

Val D’Isère ranks alongside St Moritz, Stowe and Cortina in the “famous names of skiing” category and is one of the very few in the world to stage World Cup, World Chamionship and Olympic competitions.. However it is also in the world top ten for ‘ski area size’ as well as name-fame, sharing the huge Espace Killy with neighbouring Tignes. Add to that world class lift infrastructure and a vast array of apres ski activity and you have the archetypal world-class resort. ‘Val’ is very popular with the British, and has spawned purpose-built developments at out-of-town La Daille (1785m) , which boasts an ultra-modern funnicular, and le Fornet (1930m). Most of the men’s downhill events were staged here for the ’92 Albertville Olympics and the European leg of the World Cup season generally starts here in the first half of December.

Review

One of the world’s most famous ski resorts, Val d’Isère offers a vast skiing panorama made famous by the great French skier, Jean Claude Killy, after whom the ski area, Espace Killy, is now named. The resort has it all – a huge vertical stretching up to an altitude of year-round snow and skiing, with 90 lifts opening up seemingly endless terrain, including Olympic and annual World Cup downhills. In 2004 the resort won the rights to host the Alpine Ski World Championships, making it only the third resort in history to host all three events – and the only resort in the modern era to do so.

The resort is however, one of those that have materialised from nothing at the turn of the last century, when it was just a small hamlet at the valley head, served by a rough mule track. The farms about the area lay dormant for up to 8 months of the year because of the snow. It all changed in the early 1930s when Parisian industrialist Jacques Mouflier persuaded the local mayor to work to turn Val d’Isère in to a ski resort. The rest, as they say, is history.

The local farmers trained as ski school instructors, a ski shop opened, the authorities brought running water and electricity to the village and six years later the first ski lift was installed. Today the resort, which then had just four hotels, can cater for over 28,000 overnight guests, staying in the resort centre or in one of the satellite accommodation complexes of Le Fornet or La Daille. Rapid development in the 1950s and 1960s led to the construction of some rather ugly concrete buildings, but in recent years the resort has worked hard to use local materials and architectural styles to make it far more attractive.

Chamonix takes in number 1 spot with British skiers as per EasyJet's compilation.

European discount airline Easyjet recently released the top-10 winter ski resort destinations by British skiers and have compiled them into a hot list. Ski Rebel Magazine has managed to get a copy and has them available for you if you read on…

Recent graduates working in the UK will have the chance to win a luxury skiing or snowboarding holiday if they complete a short survey about their jobs.

Market research and consultancy firm 2i Research is conducting the survey to find out about graduates’ real life experiences of their jobs. The questionnaire is aimed at graduates from 2006-2009 and the results will help future generations of students make career decisions.

Val d’Isère is the latest ski resort to launch its own iPhone application, one which provides useful information to iPhone owners across the Espace Killy, both in Val d’Isère and Tignes.

The application uses a patent pending technology to show your position at the French ski resort allowing you to share this information with your friends. Simply tapping on your location supplies the name of the slope you are on. You can even guide them to where you are. Of course you can zoom and pan the map as required.

A meeting between downhill racers and International Ski Federation (FIS) officials in Val Gardena, Italy last week became even more contentious after a run of serious injuries in recent World Cup races knocked several leading skiers out of the coming Winter Olympics.

The athletes presented some points that they think are important for the development and safety of Alpine Ski Racing, mostly centering around course preperation. Racers Didier Cuche, Michael Walchhofer, Scott MaCartney, Marco Büchel, Werner Heel and Aksel Lund Svindal met with FIS representatives Günther Hujara, Helmut Schmalzl and Mike Kertesz, who described the meeting as productive.

The horrid streak of injuries continued this week for the Canadian Olympic ski team, as three skiers fell during training in France over the last week, joining John Kucera whose season ended in November.

Last weekend, Ste-Flavie, Quebec native Jean-Philippe Roy hurt his right knee in Val d’Isere, France. The 30-year-old has since had season-ending surgery as a result.

On Wednesday Owen Sound native Larisa Yurkiw fell during a downhill run in Val d’Isere while training for an upcoming World Cup race. The 21-year-old injured her left knee and will be out for the season, according to a Canadian team doctor.

On Thursday at the same French ski area, Kitchener native Kelly VanderBeek took a tumble training for the same event. The 26-year-old was reportedly taken off the hill on a stretcher with her leg in a splint, and her prognosis is not yet sure.